


The Quality of Mercy

by anhonestpuck1605



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Co-workers, F/M, Harry Potter Epilogue What Epilogue | EWE, Intrigue, Original Character(s), Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-18
Updated: 2019-09-18
Packaged: 2020-10-21 03:16:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,065
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20686613
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anhonestpuck1605/pseuds/anhonestpuck1605
Summary: Eight years on from the Second Wizarding War, Hermione Granger finds herself tasked with the knotty assignment of ridding Wizarding Britain of all remaining pro-pureblood laws. While relishing this assignment, she is significantly less enthused to be forced to partner on it with Lucius Malfoy, a long-standing proponent of those laws. Can she trust Lucius Malfoy? Has he changed since the war? And why does she find him so disconcertingly intriguing?--Tags and content rating may change as the story develops.





	The Quality of Mercy

Hermione Granger leaned back in her chair, aghast at the suggestion before her.   


“Absolutely not,” she replied, shaking her head vigorously. What was her usually sensible boss thinking? Surely Valerius Selwyn, the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, couldn’t possibly be entertaining such an outlandish notion. Of course, she’d had an inkling that he wanted to discuss a matter of some delicacy when he had summoned her to his office for “a chat over tea” -- but she had expected nothing like this.

As Selwyn’s deputy over the past year, Hermione had worked relatively closely with the older wizard. They were invariably on the same page across the gamut of issues covered by the Department, from the reform of Azkaban to the reclassification of intoxicating substances.   


His shrewd judgement was recognized throughout the Ministry of Magic; only his ardent support of the Chudley Cannons, perennial Quidditch League losers, suggested that he might fall prey to the occasional lapse in logic. Hermione always figured that his support for the Cannons was due to some kind of Hufflepuff penchant for underdogs.

Selwyn now returned her shocked expression with a resigned look. He had apparently been anticipating this reaction.

“Hold on, Hermione,” he began. “Let us not be hasty. Surely you appreciate the reasoning at work here. I have tasked you with reviewing the remaining pro-pure-blood laws still on the books, and with drafting a road map on the way forward to ridding ourselves of them.” He paused, earning a cautious nod from her.

“You have identified several challenges,” Selwyn explained. “Most particularly, that some of the laws have been so ingrained within the wizarding community that you need to untangle multiple policies, statutes, and practices that have become de facto regulations -- all with their own spells and curses -- to effectively repeal these laws. Indeed, that’s why the Department hasn’t been able to repeal them before now.” Hermione nodded once more. She had a sinking sensation that she knew where this argument was heading.

Selwyn tipped his head towards her in recognition. “You have also affirmed that with the partial destruction of the records room during the fall of the Ministry, the efforts to piece together all these disparate elements might be close to impossible. And you have noted -- astutely, might I add -- that the repeal of these laws should be done in a way that maintains our hard-fought social cohesion, and that pureblood families do not feel unduly targeted or maligned by this initiative.   


“So tell me this: Doesn’t the involvement of Lucius Malfoy resolve all these challenges you have identified? One: Lucius Malfoy is objectively one of the country’s foremost experts on pro-pureblood laws; we can use his expertise. Two: Malfoys down the generations were responsible for proposing a great deal of these laws, and so the Malfoy library and family archives are likely the best sources of information we’ll have now. And three: We’ll be repealing these laws in partnership with the head of one of the most ancient, most recognizable pureblood families. Regardless of Lucius’s current reputation within society, that will send a strong message of social cohesion.”   


Hermione looked at him for a long moment, exhaling deeply. “Yes, sir, I don’t dispute the logic of the argument.” She was trying to keep her voice level and dispassionate, but crikey, it was hard.   


It was hard to do so when Lucius Malfoy’s very name brought to the fore cascading waves of emotions and memories, many which she had spent years trying to bury within the deepest recesses of her mind. It had been eight years since the end of the Second Wizarding War, and yes, she was now a widely respected and outwardly confident adult witch; one who was simultaneously among the most prominent ‘heroes’ of that terrible war as well as the second-in-command of the largest department of the Ministry of Magic.   


But thinking of Malfoy transported her back to very different versions of herself... of the anxious Muggle-born girl who was called ‘Mudblood’ at Hogwarts, and felt that she had to work twice as hard as anyone else to prove that she belonged… of the petrified and shaking girl who, while being tortured, had that epithet etched into her skin with a dagger… and of the resolute girl who was forced to protect her parents from a likely death by erasing all memories of herself and sending them across the world to safety, to be forever ignorant of their only child.   


Hermione fixed Selwyn with a steady gaze. She drew herself up, attempting to temper her emotions and appear like the model of the clear-headed and authoritative civil servant.   


“Yes, I understand that he brings many assets. I understand the Wizengamot cleared him and his family after the war, that there’s a reason he didn’t get sent back to Azkaban. And of course, I understand that he has suffered tremendous loss, too.”   


At this last point, she saw Selwyn’s face twist momentarily into a grimace, mirroring her own. It was a mutual recognition of their department’s failure to address Malfoy’s loss. “But how can we possibly trust Lucius Malfoy to help knock down the foundations of a system that he's benefited from, and supported, his entire life?” she asked. “Will he really turn his back on what you’ve identified is a generational family effort to elevate the status of purebloods over everyone else?”

She continued, feeling her cheeks flush and hearing her voice rise higher as she spoke. “His family have always been pureblood supremacists.  _ He _ is a pureblood supremacist.  _ He  _ was responsible for Ginny Weasley inadvertently re-opening the Chamber of Secrets at Hogwarts, unleashing a year of terror for Muggle-born students.  _ He  _ tried to get the school to ban books with pro-Muggle themes.  _ He _ was a Death Eater -- in both wars.  _ He  _ has tortured and killed Muggles.  _ He _ has personally killed witches and wizards, including purebloods, who didn’t subscribe to his evil worldview.  _ I  _ was tortured on  _ his _ drawing room floor, by  _ his  _ sister-in-law, while  _ he  _ and the rest of  _ his _ family stood and watched! I believe in social cohesion, in reconciliation. But everything I’ve ever seen of Lucius Malfoy suggests that he is not someone who we can trust on something like this." She paused momentarily, seeing but not paying much heed to the look of warning that had appeared across Selwyn's face. “He is not someone who  _ I _ can trust.”

Hermione was out of breath, the speech making her feel like she'd just run a lap through the corridors of the Ministry. She was starting to feel somewhat pleased about the persuasiveness of her case when Selwyn stood up from his chair abruptly, looking towards the door behind her.

“Lucius! Err… welcome. Thank you for coming in. I believe you and Ms Hermione Granger are acquainted,” he said, waving unnecessarily in Hermione's direction.

Hermione let out a short breath, cursing herself silently. Of course something like this would happen on one of the few occasions when she lost her cool. Bracing herself, she turned around… and found herself facing, for the first time in eight years, Lucius Malfoy.   


He was dressed almost fully in black, his fine white dress shirt offering the only counterpoint to the resplendent, gleaming darkness of his attire. She took in with one breath the elegant knot of his cravat, the exquisite pattern of his waistcoat, the military precision of the folds on his trousers, and the billowing weight of his robes. She then gazed at the man himself.

Lucius Malfoy. It had been years since she'd last since him, and at first glance he looked relatively, rather somewhat irritatingly, untouched by time. He had the same long blond hair, solid build and fine, aristocratic features that she remembered from as far back as her Hogwarts days.   


He also had the same impassive yet superior look on his face that she remembered so well. Looking down at Hermione in her seat, her eyes wide with surprise, his mouth twisted into a slight, sardonic smile.   


“Good afternoon, Ms Granger. Valerius,” Malfoy greeted, inclining his head towards each of them in turn. “I arrived a tad early for our meeting, and your colleague sitting outside -- Cordelia, was it? -- suggested that I proceed in. Your door was ajar.”

“Lucius --” Selwyn began.

“There is no need for apologies, Valerius,” Malfoy cut in, holding up his hand. “I appreciate candour. I should therefore thank you both for this most candid meeting.”   


Malfoy turned to Hermione, fixing her with a penetrating stare. “However, as...  _ illuminating _ as it was to hear your opinion of me, Ms Granger, and as much as I enjoyed listening to that litany of my sins, I think this demonstrates that perhaps Valerius’s idea for us to work together is ill-judged. Your assignment is indeed a most important one, and you shouldn’t be forced to associate with…  _ someone who you cannot trust _ .” He paused momentarily before continuing in the same clipped tone, with a sort of icy courtesy she assumed was a product of his pureblood breeding. “I hope that you will be able to find someone who does meet with your approval. I wish you every success with this project.” And with that, he turned crisply on his heel and walked back out the door.

Oh Merlin. Hermione turned back to Selwyn; he looked both distinctly uncomfortable (though probably not as uncomfortable as she was feeling at the moment) and dismayed.   


“That was unfortunate, Ms Granger.” He gave a long sigh, pensively considering her for a few seconds over the top of his glasses. Walking over to the corner bookshelf behind his desk, he picked up a small framed photograph of a smiling teenage girl. She was dressed in Hufflepuff robes and waving enthusiastically from the enchanted image. He looked down at the photograph for a few seconds, lost in thought, before placing it back on the shelf.   


Selwyn turned back to Hermione, his voice softer. “I know the sacrifices you made, the challenges that you and your friends faced in the war. But we’ve all lost something, or someone. There are few witches and wizards in Britain who didn’t lose someone.”   


Feeling a rising sense of shame, Hermione recalled the moment when she first saw Selwyn years ago, at the Ministry’s ceremony for ‘heroes’ of the Battle of Hogwarts. He and his wife were on stage to accept a posthumous Order of Merlin on behalf of the families of all the students who’d been killed that terrible day. As exhausted as she was, as emotional as she was from all the conflicting feelings coursing through her -- relief that it was all finally over; grief for Remus, Tonks, Fred and everyone else they’d lost; and even, perhaps a bit embarrassingly, a degree of excitement about maybe getting her NEWTs after all -- she was awed by the grief-stricken dignity of the bereaved parents. Ironically, seeing Valerius and Anna Selwyn had also cemented for her that she’d done the right thing by erasing herself from her parents’ memories. They would never know how many close brushes with death she’d had; they never risked feeling the overwhelming pain of having to bury their child.   


“I --” she started to stammer.

“It’s alright, Hermione,” he answered, stopping her before she could speak further. “I understand your reservations. Trust me, I've also had my share of reservations when it comes to Lucius Malfoy. But I've known him for a very long time and I know that he will be able to give this initiative the push that it requires. So I ask that you think of the big picture here.”

“Yes, ok. I will, sir.”

“Excellent. Thank you for keeping an open mind. And this may surprise you, but I suspect that both you and Lucius will learn a great deal from each other.” Selwyn appeared not to notice Hermione's look of mild incredulity at this last statement.   


“So,” he concluded, standing up from his chair with an air of finality, “as Lucius came to us for this meeting, courtesy dictates that we repay him the favour. Please arrange to meet him at his convenience, wherever he is. And Hermione -- I expect you to convince him to come back on board, no excuses. Apologize if you have to, grovel if you have to, buy him the biggest enchanted fruit basket in all of London if you have to. Just get it done.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is my first bash at this, so comments are most welcome!


End file.
